UNC School of Medicine Waitlist 2019-2020

[SurgProtector]

Hi everyone, lets start a poll for those who are waitlisted. I imagine everyone wants to gauge activity and membership in this group.

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[aspca]

Great idea. The waitlist must be large given that we have 53 among the SDN membership alone.

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

The waitlist does seem big. However, I think it's important to note that since no information is provided to students about the waitlist SDN may be the only source of info for students. The first link that pops up after a "UNC SOM Waitlist" google search is this thread, so perhaps the majority of waitlisted people have decided to join this thread. Just food for thought

 

[aspca]

Thank you for your insight and your optimism.

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

So quick question for anyone who knows how the waitlist process works... I saw on the regular thread that UNC uses an unranked waitlist and that they try to match a waitlisted candidate to whoever withdrew their acceptance to maintain diversity in the class... Does this mean that higher stat applicants most likely get pulled first since those turning down UNC are likely high stat applicants going to top tier schools?

I know they give zero information on how their waitlist works, so seeing if anyone else has any insight. Given all this COVID-19 stuff, I have too much time on my hands to speculate what will happen with this waitlist

 

[KnightDoc]

So quick question for anyone who knows how the waitlist process works... I saw on the regular thread that UNC uses an unranked waitlist and that they try to match a waitlisted candidate to whoever withdrew their acceptance to maintain diversity in the class... Does this mean that higher stat applicants most likely get pulled first since those turning down UNC are likely high stat applicants going to top tier schools?

I know they give zero information on how their waitlist works, so seeing if anyone else has any insight. Given all this COVID-19 stuff, I have too much time on my hands to speculate what will happen with this waitlist

I'd be willing to bet that stats of all accepted students, as a group, are not that different from those of the WL, and that the diversity you are thinking about refers to M/F, IS/OOS, state or area of the country, etc., as opposed to stats.

I'm not an adcom or anything, but that's what would make sense to me. I seriously doubt that if someone in the bottom 25% GPA and/or MCAT of their pool withdraws that they will feel they need to replace that person with someone similarly situated, or vice versa for the top 25%. Classes tend to have stats distributed across a range, but clustered around the median, so I really don't think there would be pressure to swap like for like when pulling from the WL, particularly because I'm pretty sure many people will be right around the median.

Also, I don't remember if it's USNWR or MSAR, but I think one of them reports medians for accepted students versus matriculated, and matriculated is always lower, because high stat students tend to have multiple acceptances and can only attend one school, and, across the universe of WLs, there aren't enough similarly high stat students to replace them (i.e., the A pool in general has slightly higher stats than WL, and as, you said, the higher stat students are the ones who disproportionately turn down As -- this happens at all tiers of school).

 

[sweaters1234]

if there's 50 people on the instate waitlist, is it reasonable to think there's ~100 total waitlisted in state?

 

[TheDataKing]

if there's 50 people on the instate waitlist, is it reasonable to think there's ~100 total waitlisted in state?

what does this mean? if there are 50 people on the in state waitlist, how would there be 100 total waitlisted in state?

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

what does this mean? if there are 50 people on the in state waitlist, how would there be 100 total waitlisted in state?

I think they mean based on the 50 instate people who answered the above SDN WL poll. I mean it's impossible to know really how much bigger the WL actually is based on this poll.

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

So I think I may have an estimate of how many students were on the waitlist last year. This is based on those US news spreadsheets and what an M2 at UNC told me: that it was rumored UNC accepted everyone off the waitlist last year.

From MSAR:
In 2018 UNC had 152 IS and 38 OOS matriculants
In 2019 UNC had 166 IS and 24 OOS matriculants

From this spreadsheet data (which I believe is for 2019 since the matriculant data matches MSAR):

IS Matriculants: 166
IS total accepted: 227

OOS Matriculants: 24
OOS total accepted 71

What was odd to me was that in 2019 14 extra seats went to IS students, messing up those clean 80% IS and 20% OOS percentages from 2018. Thus, I'm speculating they still tried to fill 38 OOS seats, but only 24 actually committed to going to UNC even after giving offers to everyone on the OOS waitlist. And in order to fill all 190 seats, they pulled an extra 14 from the IS waitlist...

So given the above info and that spreadsheet data:

227 (IS total accepted) - 152 (initial IS accepted) = 75 IS waitlist spots

71 (OOS total accepted) - 38 (initial OOS accepted) = 33 OOS waitlist spots

This is pure speculation though and based on the rumor that everyone was accepted off the waitlist last year. I don't know what good this information will provide, but I just thought I'd share.

 

[deleted972488]

So I think I may have an estimate of how many students were on the waitlist last year. This is based on those US news spreadsheets and what an M2 at UNC told me: that it was rumored UNC accepted everyone off the waitlist last year.

From MSAR:
In 2018 UNC had 152 IS and 38 OOS matriculants
In 2019 UNC had 166 IS and 24 OOS matriculants

From this spreadsheet data (which I believe is for 2019 since the matriculant data matches MSAR):

IS Matriculants: 166
IS total accepted: 227

OOS Matriculants: 24
OOS total accepted 71

What was odd to me was that in 2019 14 extra seats went to IS students, messing up those clean 80% IS and 20% OOS percentages from 2018. Thus, I'm speculating they still tried to fill 38 OOS seats, but only 24 actually committed to going to UNC even after giving offers to everyone on the OOS waitlist. And in order to fill all 190 seats, they pulled an extra 14 from the IS waitlist...

So given the above info and that spreadsheet data:

227 (IS total accepted) - 152 (initial IS accepted) = 75 IS waitlist spots

71 (OOS total accepted) - 38 (initial OOS accepted) = 33 OOS waitlist spots

This is pure speculation though and based on the rumor that everyone was accepted off the waitlist last year. I don't know what good this information will provide, but I just thought I'd share.

Schools accept more applicants than they matriculate, even initially, because they know not everyone accepted will attend, so you are likely overestimating the waitlist offers.

Crossing my fingers for you either way!

 

[aspca]

Looking through both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 threads:

2017/18:
7 SDN members posted that they were waitlisted and all 7 were accepted.
2018/19
7 SDN members posted waitlist status and again, 7 were accepted.

Of course, UNC may modified their waitlist protocol to ensure full enrollment this year.

Cautiously optimistic.

 

[prayigetaccepted]

Looking through both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 threads:

2017/18:
7 SDN members posted that they were waitlisted and all 7 were accepted.
2018/19
7 SDN members posted waitlist status and again, 7 were accepted.

Of course, UNC may modified their waitlist protocol to ensure full enrollment this year.

Cautiously optimistic.

I luv u

 

[deleted962695]

Looking through both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 threads:

2017/18:
7 SDN members posted that they were waitlisted and all 7 were accepted.
2018/19
7 SDN members posted waitlist status and again, 7 were accepted.

Of course, UNC may modified their waitlist protocol to ensure full enrollment this year.

Cautiously optimistic.

Ah that is not very many, unfortunately. If we assume 7 SDN members are going to get in off the waitlist again, that is only 13.5% of us. But who knows, maybe there are more people on SDN this cycle especially given that this year's school-specific thread is 27 pages (and this year's cycle is not technically over yet), and last year's school-specific thread was only 22 pages. But I am definitely staying cautiously optimistic until the end since UNC is my dream school and I am not quite ready to move on yet lol. Good luck to everyone else on the waitlist!

 

[aspca]

Good point and I understand your concern, however please remember that 7 people posted WL status and 7 were accepted. If more had posted their WL status it is likely that we would see a larger number of acceptances. At least that's the hope.

 

[deleted962695]

Good point and I understand your concern, however please remember that 7 people posted WL status and 7 were accepted. If more had posted their WL status it is likely that we would see a larger number of acceptances. At least that's the hope.

Ah I understand now! Excuse my poor reading comprehension skills earlier lol (probably why I was waitlisted in the first place )

 

[sweaters1234]

Looking through both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 threads:

2017/18:
7 SDN members posted that they were waitlisted and all 7 were accepted.
2018/19
7 SDN members posted waitlist status and again, 7 were accepted.

Of course, UNC may modified their waitlist protocol to ensure full enrollment this year.

Cautiously optimistic.

It is weird that there were around 20 waitlist posts this year, much more than years before. But I too am holding out hope!

 

[prayigetaccepted]

Anyone else counting down the days until April 30??

 

[aspca]

Counting the hours. I recall someone mentioning that 54 people are on the waitlist, but like sweaters1234, I only count about 20. Does anyone else recall that 54 number?

 

[whatifIsayplease?]

Counting the hours. I recall someone mentioning that 54 people are on the waitlist, but like sweaters1234, I only count about 20. Does anyone else recall that 54 number?

There's a poll at the top of this page - maybe someone was counting an earlier version of that?

I'm also counting the hours right now, planning to switch to minutes on the 29th!

 

[aspca]

A ha! Thanks - I was counting the actual WL posts. It is notable that this year's thread has 27 pages and still counting, while last year there were only 22 pages total. At 50 posts per page, that's 250+/- additional posts, which could indicate that more applicants are using SDN this year and that the poll numbers are more representative of the actual WL.

Either way, this excellent previous post provides some encouragement, given that we have 53 in-state waitlist applicants:

IS Matriculants: 166
IS total accepted: 227

OOS Matriculants: 24
OOS total accepted 71

What was odd to me was that in 2019 14 extra seats went to IS students, messing up those clean 80% IS and 20% OOS percentages from 2018. Thus, I'm speculating they still tried to fill 38 OOS seats, but only 24 actually committed to going to UNC even after giving offers to everyone on the OOS waitlist. And in order to fill all 190 seats, they pulled an extra 14 from the IS waitlist...

So given the above info and that spreadsheet data:

227 (IS total accepted) - 152 (initial IS accepted) = 75 IS waitlist spots

71 (OOS total accepted) - 38 (initial OOS accepted) = 33 OOS waitlist spots

This is pure speculation though and based on the rumor that everyone was accepted off the waitlist last year. I don't know what good this information will provide, but I just thought I'd share.

 

[deleted1025690]

I heard this everyone accepted of waitlist last year rumor too, I wish we could know the source of this information lol. Anyways, stay strong fellow WLers, were in the home stretch and I’m rooting for us all!!!

 

[HopefulErDr]

Might be a dumb question, but are we notified of anything on the 30th?

 

[deleted1025690]

Might be a dumb question, but are we notified of anything on the 30th?

The AAMC traffic rule recommendations state those with multiple acceptances narrow it down to one by that date and withdraw from others. I think many of us are just hoping that on or around that date some WL movement will happen . But no guarantee that we will hear anything specifically that day.

 

[tri99]

The AAMC traffic rule recommendations state those with multiple acceptances narrow it down to one by that date and withdraw from others. I think many of us are just hoping that on or around that date some WL movement will happen . But no guarantee that we will hear anything specifically that day.

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

A ha! Thanks - I was counting the actual WL posts. It is notable that this year's thread has 27 pages and still counting, while last year there were only 22 pages total. At 50 posts per page, that's 250+/- additional posts, which could indicate that more applicants are using SDN this year and that the poll numbers are more representative of the actual WL.

Either way, this excellent previous post provides some encouragement, given that we have 53 in-state waitlist applicants:

IS Matriculants: 166
IS total accepted: 227

OOS Matriculants: 24
OOS total accepted 71

What was odd to me was that in 2019 14 extra seats went to IS students, messing up those clean 80% IS and 20% OOS percentages from 2018. Thus, I'm speculating they still tried to fill 38 OOS seats, but only 24 actually committed to going to UNC even after giving offers to everyone on the OOS waitlist. And in order to fill all 190 seats, they pulled an extra 14 from the IS waitlist...

So given the above info and that spreadsheet data:

227 (IS total accepted) - 152 (initial IS accepted) = 75 IS waitlist spots

71 (OOS total accepted) - 38 (initial OOS accepted) = 33 OOS waitlist spots

This is pure speculation though and based on the rumor that everyone was accepted off the waitlist last year. I don't know what good this information will provide, but I just thought I'd share.

Thanks, I made the post to help provide some information, given we were told nothing except that we are on the waitlist. However, someone replied to my post and made a valid point that I'm likely overestimating. We don't know how many of those 227 IS or 71 OOS total acceptances were from the waitlist or not, since multiple "initial" acceptances (non-waitlist acceptance) can be given for one seat, prior to UNC making its WL. In an ideal world where 1) UNC doesn't give more initial acceptances than seats, 2) No one turns down their acceptance before UNC makes the WL, and 3) the information from the spreadsheet is correct, then 75 IS and 33 OOS would be accurate... However, in my opinion, #1 listed above throws the biggest wrench into the WL estimates. So if anyone knows if UNC accepts more people than seats initially (before the waitlist is made) would be huge for us waiting in agony.

On another note, if any of you are like me with no acceptances (currently on 2 waitlists) then ik this wait and uncertainty is absolutely brutal. I also turn to information like this forum to maintain some form of optimism. But I think the best thing anyone in my position can do is gear up for a reapplication. Way harder said than done, and I haven't really let go of this cycle yet either, but treating waitlists like rejections and moving forward with a re-app/ looking for ways to improve is the best thing we can do. I really hope it works out for all of us, but the sooner you treat being waitlisted like a rejection I think the better.

My exams are finished this coming Monday, and I've been using my classes as an excuse not to work on my re-app. So when those are over I guess I'll need to start taking my own advice. I truly wish all the best for everyone on here.

 

[wannabMD123]

Thanks, I made the post to help provide some information, given we were told nothing except that we are on the waitlist. However, someone replied to my post and made a valid point that I'm likely overestimating. We don't know how many of those 227 IS or 71 OOS total acceptances were from the waitlist or not, since multiple "initial" acceptances (non-waitlist acceptance) can be given for one seat, prior to UNC making its WL. In an ideal world where 1) UNC doesn't give more initial acceptances than seats, 2) No one turns down their acceptance before UNC makes the WL, and 3) the information from the spreadsheet is correct, then 75 IS and 33 OOS would be accurate... However, in my opinion, #1 listed above throws the biggest wrench into the WL estimates. So if anyone knows if UNC accepts more people than seats initially (before the waitlist is made) would be huge for us waiting in agony.

On another note, if any of you are like me with no acceptances (currently on 2 waitlists) then ik this wait and uncertainty is absolutely brutal. I also turn to information like this forum to maintain some form of optimism. But I think the best thing anyone in my position can do is gear up for a reapplication. Way harder said than done, and I haven't really let go of this cycle yet either, but treating waitlists like rejections and moving forward with a re-app/ looking for ways to improve is the best thing we can do. I really hope it works out for all of us, but the sooner you treat being waitlisted like a rejection I think the better.

My exams are finished this coming Monday, and I've been using my classes as an excuse not to work on my re-app. So when those are over I guess I'll need to start taking my own advice. I truly wish all the best for everyone on here.

Well said. To everyone that has made it this far, you deserve to be a physician regardless of whether or not you get off the waitlist! Keep your head up and stay strong!

 

[wannabMD123]

Alright guys! It's the 30th! I'm hoping that all of us will be hearing some good news soon! Stay strong fellow WLers!

 

[prayigetaccepted]

Alright guys! It's the 30th! I'm hoping that all of us will be hearing some good news soon! Stay strong fellow WLers!

Ya can they call today lol

 

[deleted1025690]

Ya can they call today lol

Right, I literally feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust.

 

[prayigetaccepted]

Right, I literally feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust.

Last year someone was notified on April 29! I need to chill though lol

 

[wannabMD123]

I think there are 168 people on the facebook page (including admins). There are probably 20-30 seats for the waitlist is my guess! (assuming everybody that's in the class is in the group)

 

[sweaters1234]

how do we get feedback on our application if we've been waitlisted? do you have to wait till you get a formal rejection in July? just wondering as I'm trying to plan my reapplication

 

[deleted1025690]

how do we get feedback on our application if we've been waitlisted? do you have to wait till you get a formal rejection in July? just wondering as I'm trying to plan my reapplication

I emailed them about this weeks ago and was told that at the current time advising appointments are only for people with no acceptances or waitlist offers. So we do probably have to be formally rejected first.

 

[probablyneedassistance]

Ahh I see waitlist movement from other schools all on my social media which is making me feel more anxious. Surprised I haven't seen anything here... fingers crossed as many of us as possible can get an A soon

 

[wannabMD123]

Ahh I see waitlist movement from other schools all on my social media which is making me feel more anxious. Surprised I haven't seen anything here... fingers crossed as many of us as possible can get an A soon

The wait is killing me! Anybody hear anything yet?

 

[prayigetaccepted]

The wait is killing me! Anybody hear anything yet?

No

 

[TryingToStayOptimistic123]

Yeah I'm surprised with how quiet WL movement has been here. Based on last year's thread first WL movement post was on April 29th and the last post about getting off the WL was on May 28th. At least one person got accepted every week in May. Of course, the pandemic could be slowing things down or (going against my username) it's worst-case scenario as of now and they have no spots to offer

 

[deleted1025690]

Anytime someone posts here or in the UNC thread I have a minor heart attack thinking someone heard! WHEW we got this guys! Also I wonder if they’re sticking to Tuesday for some sort of zoom/online committee meeting for who comes off waitlists? Or is it up to the dean?

 

[prayigetaccepted]

Yeah I'm surprised with how quiet WL movement has been here. Based on last year's thread first WL movement post was on April 29th and the last post about getting off the WL was on May 28th. At least one person got accepted every week in May. Of course, the pandemic could be slowing things down or (going against my username) it's worst-case scenario as of now and they have no spots to offer

That thought came to mind too (about them having no spots) and my heart sank at the possibility

 

[probablyneedassistance]

That thought came to mind too (about them having no spots) and my heart sank at the possibility

Seems unlikely that they have absolutely no spots to offer, so I'm trying to stay optimistic! Will say that I'm super frustrated that UNC's timeline always seems to be behind other schools

 

[wannabMD123]

Seems unlikely that they have absolutely no spots to offer, so I'm trying to stay optimistic! Will say that I'm super frustrated that UNC's timeline always seems to be behind other schools

That makes sense. Plus they are trying to expand the class size beyond 190 to accommodate for the increased demand for physicians in NC, and they are even building a new medical building so that by 2022, the class size can be increased to as much as 240 students (they intend on increasing class size from 190 to 240 incrementally from 2019-2022; source: The New UNC Medical Education Building: Building on a tradition of excellence — News Room - UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine). That being said, living in a pandemic is an unconventional end to a cycle so there is also a possibility that they can't take more people off of the waitlist due to lack of funding or something else but I guess only time will tell.

 

[probablyneedassistance]

That makes sense. Plus they are trying to expand the class size beyond 190 to accommodate for the increased demand for physicians in NC, and they are even building a new medical building so that by 2022, the class size can be increased to as much as 240 students (they intend on increasing class size from 190 to 240 incrementally from 2019-2022; source: The New UNC Medical Education Building: Building on a tradition of excellence — News Room - UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine). That being said, living in a pandemic is an unconventional end to a cycle so there is also a possibility that they can't take more people off of the waitlist due to lack of funding or something else but I guess only time will tell.

Interesting class size info - thanks for providing! I'd be more worried about funding or something else preventing waitlist movement if Brody also didn't have movement (which they definitely have). I agree anything is possible, but UNC has been slower than expected every step of the way with this process so my best guess is that they're continuing the trend.

Also, not sure how waitlist acceptances work, but maybe if people who were also on waitlist at Brody or other places received acceptances, they'd go ahead and accept and remove themselves from ours? So maybe there's a possibility this wait will help thin down our list a little? Literally my whole post is one big speculation though so you all have guesses as good (or better haha) as mine

 

[wannabMD123]

Interesting class size info - thanks for providing! I'd be more worried about funding or something else preventing waitlist movement if Brody also didn't have movement (which they definitely have). I agree anything is possible, but UNC has been slower than expected every step of the way with this process so my best guess is that they're continuing the trend.

Also, not sure how waitlist acceptances work, but maybe if people who were also on waitlist at Brody or other places received acceptances, they'd go ahead and accept and remove themselves from ours? So maybe there's a possibility this wait will help thin down our list a little? Literally my whole post is one big speculation though so you all have guesses as good (or better haha) as mine

I also saw on the other thread that they were behind on processing transcripts for the students that were accepted. Maybe they are waiting to finish that to finalize the class size on their end and then they'll move to taking people off of the waitlist. They just might not have enough people working on this because of what is happening and that might be causing the delay.

 

[probablyneedassistance]

I think there are 168 people on the facebook page (including admins). There are probably 20-30 seats for the waitlist is my guess! (assuming everybody that's in the class is in the group)

UNC SOM Class of 2023 has 325 people, so that could be a good sign that there's more room for some of us! Plus there's one less person in the new group now which supports the lack of movement that's been reported here

 

[aspca]

Thanks for the encouragement! What do you refer to by 325? I may be reading this wrong, so please forgive.

 

[wannabMD123]

Thanks for the encouragement! What do you refer to by 325? I may be reading this wrong, so please forgive.

I think it means that out of the 167 that are on the facebook page, some of them may not be a part of the entering class but may be upperclassman and/or faculty!

 

[aspca]

Thank you! Music to our ears, or eyes in this case.

 

[deleted1025690]

 

[wannabMD123]

View attachment 305377

Honestly given that they haven't said anything yet this week, we probably won't hear until next week or the week after.